John Thomas Fike (1718-1788) Elizabeth Sarah Malachi Fike (1715-1790)
We will start the exploration of this branch of our family tree with our earliest known Fike ancestor – John Thomas Fike 1718-1788. We don’t yet know where he came from. Some researchers think that Fike was a misspelling of Fitch and that they came from an aristocratic English line. There are some who believe that there is a connection with the well-researched Christian Fike line from Pennsylvania. There is another story that John Fike was one of three brothers that emigrated from Ireland. The most common story, and one that we will later read in the biographies of John’s descendants, is that our Fike family is from Germany and that they arrived in the colonies in the late 17th century. Below is an excerpt from a researcher about the early Fikes:
“The Fike Family are of a German heritage. In the German language, the name Fyke means a conical shaped fish trap or fish basket. The immigrant(s) most likely landed first at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There are Fike’s in PA today. The Feick/Fike/Figg name was found all over Germany in the early 1700’s, and there are still many Feick/Fike names in German telephone books today….Our branch later moved south to North Carolina. The earliest record of our Fike family begins with John Fike, Constable of Granville County, North Carolina, in 1752. He had a Land Grant in Granville in 1760…”
In addition to the Fikes we will meet the Richardsons from Maryland who moved with the family to North Carolina, Tennessee, and on to Illinois. In Tennessee they married into the Henry clan in the early 1800s.
John Thomas Fike and his sons fought in the Regulator Movement in North Carolina, one of the first armed revolts of the colonists against the British Crown. They also fought in the North and South Carolina militias during the Revolutionary War. One of our uncles was in George Washington’s Continental Army and died while in service during the time that the army was encamped at Valley Forge. Another of our ancestors, Josiah Achem Fyke, fought for Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans during the war of 1812. Anthony Bellen served in the Union Army during the Civil War.
John moved from Virginia to North Carolina before the Revolution. The next generation took advantage of land grants that were offered to veterans and moved to Tennessee and Kentucky at the turn of the 19th century. From there the Fikes moved further west as lands were opened up in Illinois. Later generations moved to Missouri and then onto Utah. In each of these new areas our ancestors were early pioneers clearing land for farming and helping to establish the new states and counties.
John Thomas Fike was born about 1718 in Hanover Co., Virginia. He married Elizabeth Sarah Malachi in 1737 in Hanover Co., Virginia.
Hanover County was formed in 1720 from New Kent County and is located in the east-central Piedmont and Coastal Plain between the Chickahominy and Pamunkey Rivers, Northwest of Richmond. Tobacco barges came up the Pamunkey River to Hanovertown to load and unload goods in an area which had been home to the Chickahominy and Pamunkey Indians.
Louisa County was formed in 1742 from Hanover County. It is immediately East of Albemarle where Jefferson’s Monticello is located. It was created from Hanover County and was named for Princess Louisa, youngest daughter of King George I.
Originally the county of Louisa was the home of elk, wolves and bears along with the Monasiccapanoe and Monacan Indian tribes but by 1700 these original inhabitants had left the area, opening it to settlement. The area’s late settlement was due to its location in an interior landlocked area of the Piedmont in Virginia and was very difficult to reach.
There are a few legal records that place John in Virginia. In Jun 1734 John Thomas Fike leased a tract of land in Hanover Co. Virginia from Shirley Whately (Edward P. Valentine Papers, Vol III). John married Elizabeth Sarah Malachi in Hanover Co. during the year 1737. On Feb. 2, 1746 John T. Fike witnessed a signed petition in Louisa County requesting that a road be cleared on the ridge between the South and North Anna rivers to Todd’s Pass. This suggests that he owned property in Louisa County. Before the Louisa County Court, John Fike was tried and acquitted on a count of the murder of Lewis Davis, the court deeming the entire event an accident. The Louisa County court record states that “John Fikes appeared in court being charged with killing Lewis Davis”.
Sometime between 1746 and 1752 John and Elizabeth relocated to North Carolina with their three oldest children, Malachi, Lucy, and James.
“It was during the “great migration” of the 1740s and 1750s, as a result of the impending hostilities between the Native Americans along the Pennsylvania and Virginia frontiers that would lead up to the French and Indian War (1756-1763), when the Virginians once again decided to move southward again, mostly into North Carolina, but a few made their way into South Carolina.
This “great migration” was made possible by the Great Wagon Road, which had been built across North Carolina from Virginia in the 1740s and 1750s. During the 1750s, the Fall Line Road and the Upper Road, which both originated at Fredericksburg, Virginia, were constructed deep into central North Carolina, again facilitating emigration from Virginia into North Carolina.
Many folks of all ethnic backgrounds soon learned of these new roads and of the cheap land that was available in the Piedmont and at the base of the Appalachian Mountains, and they came by the thousands from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and most especially from all parts of Virginia.
Of course, not all of them could be tracked, but many groups of them could be followed. Some may have claimed to be included in the Scots-Irish numbers or the Quaker numbers instead of identifying themselves as merely Virginians, but they flocked to North Carolina in the Royal Period – again, primarily because of the impending French and Indian War and thanks to cheap land and low taxation.”
By 1752 John Thomas Fike was a Constable of Granville County, North Carolina. The 1755 Granville Co., NC tax list, p. 582 includes John Fike & Malaciah Fike, so Malachi was over 16 years of age, indicating his father was at least in his 30s. John and Elizabeth’s five youngest children, John, Nathan, Tyre (our ancestor), Elijah, and Elisha, were born in North Carolina from 1747 to 1754
John Fike claimed 200 acres on Bever Swamp and later 10 Dec 1755 he entered a claim for 640 acres. Malliciah Fike was a chain carrier when the property was surveyed on 20 May 1756 (Granville District of North Carolina 1748-1763, vol 4, no. 2743 by Margaret M. Hoffman) 1756 Survey, North Carolina Land Grant, entered 11 Mar 1760 , #257, 489 ac on NW side Bear Swamp in Granville Co., North Carolina, beg on said swamp at Charles Evey’s corner, chain carriers: Malachi Fike & Charles Evey. The 1757 Granville Co. tax lists: John Fike 1 White Male. In 1763 Granville Co., North Carolina, John Fike witnessed a deed.
John and Elizabeth lived the rest of their lives in the same area of west central North Carolina, but the names of the counties changed as the population grew and more counties were formed. In the early 1700s most of northwest North Carolina was Edgecombe County. Later the area became a part of Granville, then Orange, and finally Chatham County where John served as a constable.
John and his older children were supporters of the Regulator Movement in North Carolina in 1768:
“During the years leading up to the American Revolution many North Carolina people became strongly discontented with the way the provincial government was handling the colony’s affairs. However, their quarrel was not with the form of government or the colony’s laws but with abuses by government officials.
Grievances affecting the daily lives of the colonists included excessive taxes, dishonest sheriffs, and illegal fees. Scarcity of money contributed to the state of unrest. Those living in the western part of the province were isolated and unsympathetic with the easterners and it was in those frontier counties that the War of the Regulation began.
Minor clashes occurred until the spring of 1768, when an association of “Regulators” was formed. Wealthier colonists considered them to be a mob. The Regulators never had an outstanding leader, though several men were prominent in the movement; including James Hunter, Rednap Howell, William Butler, and Herman Husband. Husband, a Quaker and follower of Benjamin Franklin, circulated political pamphlets advocating peaceful reform.
Discouraged over failing to secure justice through peaceful negotiations, the reformers took a more radical stand. Violence, lawlessness, and terrorism reigned. When the government retaliated against them, the Regulators defiantly refused to pay fees, terrorized those who administered the law, and disrupted court proceedings.
It fell to royal governor William Tryon to bring the backcountry revolt to a speedy conclusion. In March 1771, the governor’s council advised Tryon to call out the militia and march against the rebel farmers.
The Battle of Alamance
The battle began on May 16 after the Regulators rejected Tryon’s suggestion that they disperse peacefully. Lacking leadership, organization, and adequate arms and, ammunition the Regulators were no match for Tryon’s militia. Many Regulators fled, leaving their bolder comrades to fight on.
The rebellion of the Regulators was crushed. Nine members of the king’s militia were killed and 61 wounded. The Regulator losses were much greater, though exact numbers are unknown. Tryon took 15 prisoners; seven were hung later. Many Regulators moved on to other frontier areas beyond North Carolina. Those who stayed were offered pardons by the governor in exchange for pledging an oath of allegiance to the royal government.
The War of the Regulation illustrates how dissatisfied much of the population was during the days before the American Revolution. The boldness displayed by reformers opposed to royal authority provided a lesson in the use of armed resistance, which patriots employed a few short years later in the American War for Independence.”
John Fike also served in the North Carolina militia providing unspecified services to the Revolutionary Army. In 1776 he was 58 years old.
John lived to the ripe old age of 70 and died in 1788 in Chatham County, North Carolina. The 1790 census of Chatham Co., North Carolina shows Elizabeth Fike, widow with 5 children living in the Hillsborough District. Elizabeth followed her husband to the grave later that year.
The first complete US census in 1790 also lists Malachi Fike as a landowner and taxpayer. A John Fike and Elijah were in Chatham County, North Carolina; Elisha Fike was in Burke County and a John Fike was in law enforcement work in Granville County. According to the records, James Fike was killed in action in the American Revolution and his nearest relative, Malachi Fike, received a bounty land grant of 1000 acres in Robertson County Tennessee and extending into Logan County, just across the state line in Kentucky. By 1790 our ancestor Tyre had moved to South Carolina.
We are descended from one of John’s younger sons Tyre. He was was born in 1750 in Edgecombe Co., North Carolina. He died about 1815 in South Carolina. He married Sarah about 1775 in Edgefield Co., South Carolina. His older brothers Malachi, John, and James figure prominently in the records of The Regulator movement and in the Revolutionary War. His brother James was a regular soldier in the continental army and died in service during the revolutionary war. Tyre served in the South Carolina militia during the Revolutionary War.
Tyre’s Siblings – The Children of John Thomas Fike and Elizabeth Malachi were:
I. Malachi Fike who was born about 1738 in Hanover County, Virginia. He died in 1810 in Logan County, Kentucky (Ben West, [email protected] has date of death as 1812). He served in the North Carolina militia in 1771.
II. Lucy Fike was born about 1740 in Hanover County, Virginia. She died in 1821 in Sulphur Springs, Simpson County, Kentucky.
III. James E. Fike was born in 1744 in Hanover County, Virginia. He died on 9 Jan 1778 during the Revolutionary War. He was a Sergeant in the Continental Line and served in Thompson’s Co. 1st Regiment, under Colonel Thomas Clark. Several settlements were made at Halifax in 1783-1785 and at Warrenton in 1786 as to James Fike’s service. In 1820, his brother John’s son, Nathan applied for a grant of land that was due to him as heir of his uncle James for service prior to 1782. A warrant of 640 acres was granted to “the heirs of James Fike”. Fyke, James – Wake County Regiment – 1776 – 2/27/1776, a known Ensign under Capt. John Rochelle during the battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge.
IV. John Fike was born on 10 Jan 1747 in prob. Anson or Edgecombe, North Carolina or Hanover County, VA He died in 1795 in Chatham County, North Carolina. Ben West says he died 1826. He inherited the Revolutionary pension of his brother James for which, he received payment. After his death, his pension was transferred to his brother Malachai.
V. Nathan Buford Fike born in Virginia in 1746 and died in South Carolina in 1799
VI. Tyre Fike (our ancestor) was born in Feb 1750 in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. He died in South Carolina about 1815. He is named in the will of his brother Malachi Fike.
VII. Elijah Fike was born about 1752 in Granville County, North Carolina. He died in 1799 in Chatham County, North Carolina.
VIII. Elisha Fike was born about 1754 in Granville County, North Carolina.
I am including the following copy of Malachi Fike’s will because lists his family members and also mentions both of our ancestors Tyre and his son, our ancestor, Josiah Fyke:
Logan County, Kentucky Will Book A, pg 115 and 224 : Mr. Fiks Will:
“In the name of God Amen I Malaciah Fiks of the County of Logan and State of Kentucky being of perfect health and perfect mind and memory thanks be given unto god calling unto mind the mortality of my body & knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die Do make and ordain this my last will and testament that is to say principally and first of all I give and recommend my soul into the hand of all mighty god that gave it and my body I recommend to the earth to be buried in decent Christian burial at the discretion of my executors and as touching such worldly estate wherewith God has bean pleased to bless me with in this life I give demise (devise?) & dispose of the same in the following maner and form that is to say in the first place Do hereby ordain and constitute my son John Fike and James Fike my sole executors of this my last will and Testament and I do give unto my grandson James M. Fike two hundred acres of land lying in the County of Logan it being the land John Fike now lives an including the lott the spring branch and all the improvements less or more also I give unto my son James Fike 160 acres of land in said County lying agoining the aforesaid two hundred acres be it less or more also give unto my son, Elisha Fike two hundred acres of land in Robertson County State of Tennessee including the improvements where the said Elisha Fike now lives also I give unto my brother Tyery Fikes son Josiah Fike one hundred acres of land lying in the aforesaid County and State including the improvement whereas the said Josiah Fike now lives allso I do give and bequeath unto my daughter Ann Phelps and her heirs sixty dollars to be made out of the sale of my overplus land allso I give and bequeath unto my daughter Rachel fifty dollars to be discounted in the hands of Frederick Ward her supposed husband. Also I do give and bequeath unto my daughter Elizabeth Glisen and her heirs twenty dollars and I do hereby require my executors after my death to make sale of all my land that I have not now bequeathed in order to discharge the the aforesaid legaces and the overplus to be given to my son James Fike also I do give and bequeath unto my loving wife Ann Fike all and singular my movable property and household furniture stock horses and all property not already bequeathed unto others of my family and also I do allow my loving wife Ann Fike to will and dispose of the same at her death as she may ___ good and I do hereby utterly disallow revoke and disannul (?) all and every other will and Testaments will, legaces and executors by me in wise (?) before named hereby ratifying and confirming this my last will and Testament in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 5th day of September 1809. Signed sealed sealed & delivered by the said Malliciah Fike in presants of us
Mallichi Fikes (Seal)
John Neely, Leonard West, James West
Tyre Fike (1750-1815) Sarah
The following is a posting by a Fike family researcher:
“Tyre Fike, the brother of Malachi Fike and the son of John Fike, Sr., had a son named Josiah Fike. This Josiah Fike, according to several Fike family researchers, was born in Edgefield County, South Carolina. According to a June 2, 1794 deed record of Edgefield County, South Carolina, Tyre Fike, the father of this Josiah, was married to a lady named Sarah (at least in 1794). Whether Sarah is the confirmed mother of Josiah Fike seems difficult to ascertain.
In trusting the experience and research of Elmer Dickson, the Tyre Fike of Edgefield and Pendleton District, South Carolina is generally accepted to be the “brother Tyery Fike” mentioned in the will of Malachi Fike of Logan County, Kentucky. However, considering the questionable relationships among other branches of the Fike family, even the identity of “brother Tyery Fike” could have been confounded.
However, given Josiah Fike’s place of birth (SC) and that he truly migrated (in later years) to Robertson County, Tennessee, it seems that Malachi Fike’s brother Tyre lived in South Carolina. That Malachi Fike’s brother Tyre lived in Edgefield County/Pendleton? District, South Carolina seems reliable and based upon sound reasoning.
According to a 1795 deed of gift in Edgefield County, South Carolina, Tyre Fike had a daughter named Mary Fike. Amazingly enough, this transaction was witnessed by an unidentified “Simon Fikes.” Some researchers believe that this Simon Fike is another son of Tyre Fike. Also, some researchers believe that a Nathan Fike (b. abt. 1775) who removed to Robertson County, Tennessee is the son of Tyre Fike. While these theories are based upon sound reasoning, it is important that Simon and Nathan Fike be regarded only as supposed sons of Tyre Fike.
With respect to Tyre Fike’s place of birth, it is supposed that he may have been born in North Carolina, possibly in the Edgecombe County area. However, the origins of this claim seem difficult to establish. It seems most likely that Tyre Fike was born somewhere either in Virginia or in North Carolina about 1750. Seventeen fifty is the birth date that is generally accepted by researchers. Some researchers believe that Tyre Fike may have died in either South Carolina or in the Robertson County, Tennessee area. Both are probable places of death, but no proof of Tyre Fike’s actual, confirmed place of death has been discovered.
Tyre served in the South Carolina militia and supplied provisions in 1779. In the records his name was spelled Phyke.
Josiah Achem Fyke (1791-1860) Elizabeth Richardson (1789-1850)
By the turn of the century John Thomas and his sons James and John had passed away. Elizabeth, his widow, was still listed on the 1790 census in North Carolina. Tyre and part of his family moved to South Carolina where they lived out their lives. Malachi and Nathan Buford Fyke and their families moved to Robertson County Tennessee and Logan County Kentucky (The two counties are adjacent to each other). Our ancestor Josiah Achem Fyke moved west with his uncles. The Fyke name is still seen to this day in Robertson County, Tennessee. Just a few miles north of Nashville you can drive on Fyke’s Grove Road and see the Fyke’s Grove Baptist church.
Josiah Achem Fyke, son of Tyre Fyke and Sarah was born about 1794 in Edgefield Co., South Carolina. He died on 13 Jun 1860 in Marion, Illinois, United States. He married:
Elizabeth Richardson, daughter of John Richardson and Nancy Anderson in 1814 in Robertson Co., Tennessee. She was born about 1794 in Maryland. She died about 1860 in Marion Co., Illinois.
Josiah was born just two years before Tennessee became a state. When he was a young man he migrated to Tennessee with his uncles. His parents remained in South Carolina for the rest of their lives. Some of the family property in the western states was acquired as a part of the land grant that they inherited from the estate of their brother James who died during The Revolutionary War.
There are records of land being surveyed in Kentucky for his uncle Malachi in 1805; so all or part of the family had made the move by then. John (Josiah’s cousin) married in Kentucky in 1808 and died in Tennessee in 1826. Malachi’s will is dated 1810. Josiah Achem Fyke married Elizabeth Richardson in Robertson County TN in 1814.
Elizabeth Richardson’s parents, John and Sarah, were born in Maryland and migrated to North Carolina after the Revolutionary War. Their middle children were born in NC, and then they moved to Robertson County where their youngest son was born in 1808. We know that the Richardson’s and some of their family moved to Illinois with the Fykes. There was another family by the name of Wooter’s who were neighbors and inter-married into the Fyke and Richardson clans in Tennessee and made the move to Illinois, and in the next generation, onto Missouri.
North Carolina was the third most populous state in the Union in 1790, but by 1860 it had dropped to twelfth in population. Hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians fled the state during those years, seeking cheap, fertile land in Tennessee, western Georgia, Indiana, Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi, and other trans-Allegheny states and territories. Thirty percent of North Carolina’s native-born population, amounting to more than four hundred thousand persons, was living outside of the state in 1860.
The migration west began before the Revolutionary War (1775–1783), as adventurous North Carolinians followed Daniel Boone in search of new frontiers beyond the mountains. After the war veterans of the Revolution were rewarded with free land in what became Tennessee. Land speculators also rushed into that area in search of wealth.
Our family crossed the Alleghenies only 20 years after Daniel Boone first guided pioneers through the Cumberland Gap into the Kentucky wilderness. The westward migration of our family that started in colonial Virginia continued for three more generations. Josiah Achem moved from North Carolina to Tennessee to Illinois. His son Thomas Lanman moved from Illinois to Missouri. And his grandson Josiah Walter completed the migration from Missouri to Utah. The westward movement occurred for our family, and for many others, as lands were open for settlement by the US government and as the local Indian populations were subdued or driven from their lands.
These families were early pioneers in each of these counties. They arrived within a decade of the states being admitted to the union and of the counties being formed. The populations were sparse, but land was cheap or free to people willing to clear it and develop productive farmland.
Our ancestors at this time lived the American frontier life. They built their homes by hand and migrated by foot or ox cart. The people we read about as heroes of the frontier lived in these same time and places. Sam Houston was born in Virginia in 1793 (One year before Josiah Achem Fyke). He moved to Blount County TN in 1806 and was fighting for Andrew Jackson at the battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814. Josiah Achem fought for Jackson in a different regiment at the Battle of New Orleans. Sam Houston served in government and military positions and earned a law degree in Nashville between 1814 and 1823 when he was elected to congress. The location of Fyke’s Grove is about 40 miles north of Nashville, so Josiah Achem and General Sam were contemporaries and Sam represented Josiah in Congress. Josiah and Abraham Lincoln both moved to Illinois in 1830, a year where the state’s population was 157,445. George Custer wasn’t born until Josiah Achem had been settled in Illinois for a decade, and Josiah’s grandson, Josiah Walter, was working as a cowboy in Nebraska only nine years after Custer died at the Little Big Horn.
In 1830 Josiah, Elizabeth, and their family and friends moved to Marion County Illinois. The book “The History of Marion County Illinois” has the following section about Josiah Fyke:
“Josiah Fyke, a veteran of the War of 1812, one of General Jackson’s Tennesseeans, at the battle of New Orleans, settled in section 17, in 1830. He was the first Justice of the Peace in the township and served in the Black Hawk war. Several of his descendants still reside in this township and a few in other townships of the county. “
The National Archives records of the War of 1812 have the following entry:
Josiah Fike 2nd Reg’T Mounted Gunmen (Williamson’s (Colonel Thomas Williamson)), Tennessee Volunteers. Private. Dates: September 1814 – April 1815. Made up of men mostly from Bedford, Davidson, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson, Wilson, Giles, and Smith Counties
Brief History: Along with Colonel Robert Dyer’s unit, this regiment was part of General John Coffee’s brigade that fought at Pensacola and New Orleans. Marching from Fayetteville to Camp Gaines (30 miles from Fort Montgomery), they helped Jackson take the port of Pensacola from the Spanish on 7 November 1814. Williamson’s men then participated in all of the engagements at New Orleans, where they were part of the left line of Jackson’s breastworks. In March 1815 they returned to Tennessee via the Natchez Trace.
Also from “The History of Marion County Illinois”:
“…The first US census lists two Fykes. They had settled on the mountain slopes of North Carolina and later moved to Robinson (Robertson) County Tennessee. In 1830 Josiah Fyke and his wife , Betsy, were lured by the rumor of rich prairie lands to what was then known as Tennessee Prairie in Illinois. At the time settlers were rushing to the westward country for the red men had ceased giving trouble and the land could be bought from the government for 75 cents per acre. Josiah Fyke, his wife, their two children and two devoted colored people, who formerly had been their slaves acquired a homestead in section 17, in what is now Centralia Township. Here they built a home, reared their family, and spent the remainder of their lives.
Federal Census Records for Josiah:
1830 – Rhea (?), TN: 1 male under 5; 1 male 20-30; 1 male 50-60; 1 female under 5; 1 female 5-10; 1 female 10-15; 1 female 15-20; 1 female 30-40.
1840 – Marion Co., IL: 2 males under 5; 2 males 5-10; 1 male 15-20; 2 males 20-30; 1 male 40-50 (Josiah, 46); 2 females 10-15; 1 female 40-50 (Elizabeth, 46) 1850 – Marion Co., IL, very near to the home of William & Ann Clark (Elizabeth’s sister).
1850 – U.S. Census Illinois Marion District 11 Josiah Fyke 56 NC Elizabeth 56 MD Joseph 18 IL Thomas 16 IL Elisha 14 IL
1855 – Marion Co., IL: 2 males 10-20 (Elisha, 19; Thomas, 22); 1 male 20-30 (Joseph, 23); 1 male 60-70 (Josiah, 62); 1 female 10-20; 1 female 60-70 (Elizabeth, 61)
The following excerpts about our ancestors Josiah Achem Fyke and Elizabeth Richardson are from “Footprints in Marion County” volume 2, Number 4, Spring 1978. This is the publication of the Marion County Illinois Historical Society:
“Raccoon Township is the southernmost of the second tier of townships in Marion County, Illinois, east of the 3rd principal meridian. The name was taken from the creek that meanders through the township and this was no doubt named for the numerous raccoons that lived there.
Small glades of prairie land project into the township, among which are Walnut Hill, Romine, and Tennessee Prairie, although in an earlier time more than half of the land was covered with forest.
The first man to settle on Tennessee prairie was Alfred Ray and so many of the early settlers from the state of Tennessee gave the prairie its name.
Two families from North Carolina settled near Walnut Hill, Sherwood and McKenney. John Adams came from Kentucky in 1828 and settled in Raccoon Township. John Wilson settled section 32 in 1819, Josiah Fyke, a veteran of the War of 1812, one of General Jackson’s Tennesseans at the battle of New Orleans settled section 17 on 1830. He was the first Justice of the Peace in the township and served in the Black Hawk War…”
The following account was written in the 1960’s by one of Josiah’s great granddaughters, Ethel Fyke Kniseley, which can be found in the same Marion County history. Ethel was a charter member of the Marion County Historical Society.
This writer recounts the common family story that the early Fike’s came from Germany before the Revolutionary War. The references to Josiah, Squire Joe, and Aunt Betsy are to our ancestors Josiah Achem Fyke and Elizabeth Richardson:
Fyke Cemetery
“Historical facts about the graveyard located Sec. 17, Raccoon Twp. A plot of land where who-so-ever-will may come for his free and final resting place was established in each pioneer community.
On an elevation 1/2 mile from a public road, Josiah and Aunt Betsy Fyke set aside one acre of land, surrounded by an orchard, clover, and corn fields where our ancestors lie undisturbed.
Squire Joe Fyke, a learned man who fought in the war of 1812, the Black Hawk War, and The Battle of New Orleans, settled in Sec. 17 in 1830. Lying at his side is his wife and Margaret Wilson Fyke said to be the first white child born in Marion County. Aunt Marg lived to be near 100 from 1822 to 1922. Many were the tales of pioneer days which she related to us. As a young girl she remembered walking from her home in Sec. 32 (Bundyville) to the Phillips to borrow a kettle of coals. She remembered then that there were few if any housed between her home and Carlyle. Then farmers drove hogs to St. Louis, forded the Mississippi River, as well as great flocks of turkeys to the French City market. Fascinating to me was the story of her dropping the kernels of corn in a trench plowed by squire Joe, the seed bed having no preparation nor was there any cultivation since the virgin soil was loose and fibrous. Waiting at the starting point would be a young child looking forward to a feeding after the mother’s half-mail round.Once she found a large acorn (sprouted) which she carried home in her jacket and planted near the cabin. Today a lofty oak well 3 feet in diameter lifts its huge branches toward the sky. Such a beautiful tree – and a living monument to this good woman’s thrift and foresight. At 90 years she cut in her wood. She never had a toothache or a dentist. Squire Joe raised a fine family of professional men, doctors, lawyers, business men. Josiah (their adult son) his good wife and their children lie nearby.
One great-great grandfather and wife form the next row as do their children who died in infancy. There were 9 children who grew to adulthood. In a handwritten will Grandfather Josiah made some strange bequests. “To my beloved wife Betsy I leave the homestead of 80 acres, my gray horse, saddle and bridle, one cow and calf, one brass bed and bedding. To his 5 sons he gave land and to 4 daughters $50.00 each and any remaining after debts were paid. The daughters were evidently uneducated theirs was always an X signature, but all of the sons wrote legibly. We think our grandmother’s maiden name was Richardson. “
The author continues on about her parents and then finishes with this section about the Fyke origins:
“History recalls the Fykes, Klinerts, Binkleys, Freys, Stotltz, Fishers, Kiger, Kinkles, Felts families left Germany shortly before the Revolutionary War and settled in the mountains of westen North Carolina, but in the early 1800’s they went to Robertson County Tennessee. Today there are many Fykes living there.”
These sections are within a 2 mile radius of the present day intersection of I-57 and Hwy 161.
John Richardson (1764-1869) Nancy Anderson (1766-1809)
John Richardson, son of James Richardson and Sophia Standiford was born in 1764 in Kent Island, Queen Anne’s, Maryland. He married Nancy Anderson in 1785 in Maryland. She was born in 1766.
John Richardson is descended from Scottish and English immigrants who arrived in Maryland during the mid-1600s. He married in 1786 and his first four children, including our ancestor Elizabeth Richardson, were born from 1787 – 1794 in Maryland. His next two children were born in North Carolina from 1800 to 1803. The youngest child was born in Robertson County, Tennessee in 1808. By the 1830 census the family was living in Illinois where they moved with Elizabeth’s husband Josiah Achem Fyke’s family sometime after the War of 1812. John died in Raccoon Township, Marion Co., Illinois in 1839.
There is a multi-generational clan relationship with the Richardson family and the Wooters and Fykes. The families were neighbors in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Illinois; and their children intermarried for at least two generations. John had a daughter that married a Wooters and another that married into the Fyke family.
This is a transcription of John Richardson’s will:
“I, John Richardson, of the County of Marion, State of Illinois, being weak in body but sound of mind and memory do make, ordain and establish this to be my last will and testament.
It is my will that all my just debts be paid. I bequeath to my beloved wife Nancy Richardson (illegible) and furniture and one cow and calf as hers forever. I do also bequeath to William Clarke for consideration heretofore received, all that place and parcel of land lying within his encloses commencing at the southeast corner of the southwest quarter of section 12, T1N, R1E, then running west along the sectional line to a lane dividing his and my farms, hence northerly along said line to the corner of said Clarke’s fields, thence easterly along the lane to the line, then southerly along said line to the beginning, to have and to hold, all the land that may be or is contained within said boundings, to be his and his heirs forever, and I do hereby authorize and request my executors or assigns to make a deed to the said William Clarke for the same as soon as it can be surveyed and established.
I do bequest unto my daughter Elizabeth Fyke (ancestor) ten dollars to be paid before a division is made, I do also bequeath unto Mary Crain all the land, more or less, that may be left in the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 12 after William Clarke gets his portion out of the same. And also that portion of my farm with the buildings that is thereon, to be hers and her heirs forever, in consideration of deducting one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre out of her child’s part for the same.
It is further my will that as soon as convenient after my decease that all of my present property of every description, except what has already been disposed of and (illegible) for the purpose of making the crop, viz: two horses and feed for the same, one cow, wagon and gears, to be sold on a (illegible) as my executors may think best.
And also, when the crop is made and gathered that the remainder of my improvement, crop, and the property that has been (illegible) be sold and the proceeds after all debts and expenses be defrayed, be equally divided among the following named person – wife Nancy Richardson, and my daughters Anna Clarke, Sarah Wooters, Elizabeth Fyke (Ancestor), Mary Crain and Rhody Ray. Remembering money that is to come from Mary Crain for the land is to be considered as my personal property and to be deducted as such. Property when divided as described above is to become theirs and their heirs forever. And I do hereby appoint William Clarke and Josiah Fyke to be my executors of this, my last will and testament. It is my will, according to an agreement made between me and James Burge that when he makes and gathers the crop that is now planted, that he have and shall be entitled to one third of the corn and one half of the cotton for his labor in making and gathering the same. The words along the line between the seventh and eighth words within the twentieth line from the top were inserted before signing this will.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal this 20th day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty nine.
John’s immigrant Richardson ancestor was Lawrence Richardson 1609-1667. Lawrence was born in Taunton, England the son of Sir Thomas Richardson and Maria Johnson. Sir Thomas was the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and The King’s Bench and a speaker of the House of Commons. Lawrence also had a Cousin Robert Richardson who settled on the Atlantic seacoast of Maryland in 1666. There he started a plantation named Mount Ephriam that stayed in the family until the Revolutionary War.
Lawrence and family arrived in Maryland before 1661 where there is recorded a land transaction for “200 acres of Richardson’s Joy surveyed June 19, 1661 for Lawrence Richardson on the South River.”
The original land grant is now a wooded residential neck of land Northwest of Annapolis Maryland. You can go to the house at 928 Sahlin Farm Rd., Annapolis, MD if you want to see where his land was.
Our Taylor ancestors:
Arthur and his parents John Taylor and Margaret Finney were all born in England. “John and Margaret Finney were married in St. Mary’s Church in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, 28 Aug. 1649”. The family came to Maryland in 1659.
The family acquired several parcels of land North of Baltimore.
“John Taylor, immigrant, demanded land for transporting himself, his wife, Margaret, and one servant, Mary Gresham.” He was granted 150 acres on April 22, 1663. The date of his arrival was August 1, 1659, at which time he brought in his wife, Margaret and his children Arthur, Mary, Robert, and John Jr. At a later date he brought in several persons named Phillips. “Arthur arrived America 1659, 11 yrs.old with'” his father John and mother Margaret (Finney) 4 children: Arthur, Mary, Robert and John Jr. and 1 servant.” Arthur married Margaret Hill in1665
“John Taylor was the Justice of the first court held in Baltimore county, Maryland.”
John Taylor made a will, dated March 25, 1675; probated April 5, 1676, wherein he named Arthur Taylor as his eldest son and his executor. In his will, he left a son, James, 1000 pounds of tobacco and excused his debts; left bequests to his daughter, Elizabeth, and to his son, Robert. His son John was not mentioned, as he doubtless had received his share earlier.
Arthur had at least two children: John born ca 1671 and Anne (our ancestor), who first married James Greer and second married Lawrence Richardson (ancestor).
Arthur’s Choice plantation was 300 acres located on the south side of the west branch of the Gunpowder River. It was near the present day I-95 bridge over the Gunpowder River about 15 miles North of Baltimore.
This is the record of the grant that Arthur made of a portion of his land:
“June 6, 1687. To all Christian people, to whom these presents shall come … I, Arthur Taylor, of Gunpowder River, in Baltimore County, Maryland, Planter, for and in consideration of natural love and affection which I have and do bear unto James Grear and Ann, his wife, as also for divers and other good reasons and considerations and hereunto especially moving and do by these presents, give, grant, alein, enfoff their heirs and assigns, unto James Grear and Ann, his wife, their heirs and assigns forever, 75 acres of land, being part of a greater tract of 300 acres belonging to the said Arthur, and called, “Arthur’s Choice”, lying and being situated in Baltimore County, and on the south side of a branch of the Gunpowder River, called Bird Run, beginning at a red oak standing on the said river and running from said oak bounding with the … run … east-north-east 53 perches by a line into the woods for length 300 … thence by a line down west-south-west from the end south-south-east … east to line 53 perches … Witness: Samuel Sickelman, Amos Thompson – Signed Arthur Taylor (his X mark).”
Thomas Lanman Fike (1834-1910) Frances C. Henry (1837-1883)
Thomas Lanman Fike was born to Josiah Achem Fyke and Elizabeth Richardson 29 September 1834 in Morrison, Illinois. He married Frances Henry 03 April 1859 in Marion County, Illinois.
Around 1827 the Fyke, Richardson, and Henry clans had moved from Central Tennessee, north of Nashville, to central Illinois as the frontier continued to move west and the children of the Revolutionary war generation sought their fortunes by clearing the forests and farming in the newly opened territories. Both his parents died by 1860. Thomas had four older brothers, so he was unlikely to inherit much land in Illinois. The couple moved to Newton County, Missouri in 1867 and then to Tarkio, Missouri in the Northwest corner of the state in 1876.
From “The History of Atchison and Holt County Missouri”: “Thomas L. Fike farmer & stock raiser in section 8- was born Sept. 29, 1834 in Morrison Co. Ill. His father Josiah Fike was born in Tenn. & his mother formerly Elizabeth Richardson was a native of North Carolina. The former was a sailor and took part in the war of 1812 and was at the noted battle of New Orleans.
Thomas was brought up on a farm and received an education in the neighborhood schools. In 1867 he moved to Newton Co. Missouri and settled on a farm where he remained nine years. In spring of 1876 he came to Atchison Co., Missouri where he now resides.
He owns 140 acres of fine land. Has a neat residence, good barn, orchard, etc. His place was one of the oldest in the township & in the early days was a stopping place for travelers between Rockport & the Nodaway River. Mr. Fike is a member of Atchison lodge No. 220 AOUW of Tarkio. He was married to Miss Frances Henry daughter of Thomas & Sarah Henry of Marion Co., Ill. She was born Feb 11th, 1837 in Robertson Co., Tennessee. They have 7 children. Nancy A born Jan 5, 1857 now (Mrs John Scott) of this County, Sarah E. born Jan 23, 1859, Lou Ellen born Apr 22, ? , Thomas H. born May 6, 1869, Josiah W.(Ancestor) born March 31, Arrah born Oct. 1, ? , Edgar L. born Mar 8, 1872. Mr. Fike and his wife are members of the Christian Church of Tarkio in which he holds the position of deacon.”
In 1850 and 1860 the census records show Thomas in Marion County, Illinois. By the 1880 census the family was in Tarkio, Missouri. In 1910 the census shows Thomas, age 74, his daughter Lizzie S., age 50, and son Edgar L., age 38, living in Grainfield, Kansas. It lists Thomas as a druggist and Edgar as a salesman for a general store.
On 03/14/2014 John E Fike, Jr. wrote this e-mail about a family history journey to the grave of Thomas Lanman Fike:
“As you know we’ve visited the “Fike” plots in a little country cemetery just south of Tarkio twice. I’ve talked with the sextant there also. The youngest son, Edgar is the source of my dad’s and my middle name. He never married and was an entertainer that traveled all around the country, according to articles we saw in the possession of a lady in Tarkio that had documented a lot of stuff about Tarkio. His head stone is there with an unmarked grave between it and Nancy Scott. Obviously, Nancy was the oldest daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth. There are a lot of Scott markers in the cemetery.
I’m pretty sure the unmarked grave (the sextant says there is a body buried there for sure) is that of my grandfather Josiah Walter. I always heard dad and mom talk about his name being Walter Josiah, but have no certificate to prove it. Aunt Lucille (dad’s older sister) had some information that said Josiah died somewhere around Provo, UT, and his body was shipped back to Tarkio to be buried. There is no marker or record of where Thomas L. is buried, but according to the sextant, he was the one who purchased the “Fike” plots.”
Frances Henry’s parents were Thomas Henry and Sarah Stark. You can follow this link to learn about the Stark and Henry families. They were instrumental in the settling of Tennessee after the revolution. Frances was the second great-granddaughter of Colonel John Donelson, a war hero and pioneer of the westward expansion across the Alleghenies. His daughter Rachel married President Andrew Jackson. John and his wife Rachel are buried on Jackson’s plantation, The Hermitage, near Nashville, Tennessee.
Josiah Walter Fike (1863-1924) Ethel May McMonegal (1876-1942)
Josiah Walter Fike was born March 31, 1863 in South Central Illinois. His namesake grandfather, Josiah Achem Fike, moved the family to Illinois in the early days of westward expansion. Josiah’s Father, Thomas Lanman Fike, moved his family to Newton County, Missouri in 1867 and then to Tarkio, Missouri in the Northwest corner of the state in 1876.
Josiah Walter’s father was Thomas Lanman Fike, born 29 Sep 1834 in Morrison, Illinois and died 24 Sep 1910 in Grainfield, Kansas. On 03 Apr 1856 in Marion Co., Illinois. His mother was Frances Catherine Henry, born 11 Feb 1837 in Robertson Co., Tennessee and died 13 May 1883 in Atchison Co., Missouri.
The next public record of Josiah Walter was the 1885 the Nebraska state census that shows him living in Stewart Township, Holt Co., Nebraska at age 22 as a boarder and a farmer. He married Ethel McMonegal in Price, Utah in 1903. In that same year Josiah and Ethel were operating a hotel in Green River, Utah. By 1905 the family had moved to Salt Lake City and by 1907 they lived at 41 Harrison Ave. in Salt Lake City and he was working as a real estate broker. In 1908 they were at 41 Aberdeen St and by 1914 they lived at 341 American Ave.
In 1915 they family sold their house on American Ave. to an adjacent Ice business and moved onto the Ute Indian Reservation on Blue Bench, Blue Mesa, near Duchesne, Utah. The photo above shows John Edgar and Ethel in front of the house.
The map shows the location of Blue Bench, Utah – 6 miles North East of the town of Duchesne, Utah; about 70 miles due East of Provo, UT. Today it is 122 miles driving on modern roads (a two-hour car trip) from Salt Lake City. In 1915 It took the Fike’s two weeks to get there travelling in a wagon drawn by one horse and one mule.
“History of Blue Bench:
The settlement of Duchesne County is unique in Utah history, for unlike much of the state, it did not occur under the direction of Brigham Young or the Mormon Church. Rather, it was settled by individuals who obtained 160 acres under the federal Homestead Act. Homesteaders were required to prove that they intended to farm the land. After five years of living on the land, making improvements, and paying $1.25 per acre homesteaders were given title to their homesteads.”
Sometime before 1920 Ethel and the kids moved back to Salt Lake City so they could continue their educations. Josiah lived apart from the family. By 1920 Josiah was in Randlett, Uinta Co., Utah at age 57 living by himself and working as a farm laborer. He passed away in 1924 in Elberta, Utah (South of Provo). His body was returned to Tarkio, Missouri to be buried in the family plot with his parents.
By the time of the 1920 census Ethel Fike was a 44 year old head of household living in Salt Lake City. She lived at 817 E. 2nd South street for the rest of her life. Her mother Henrietta Bellen moved in with her at this address at the end of her life. In 1930 Ethel was 54 with three children at home. Gladys and our ancestor John were both in their 20s and working. Gladys was employed as a seamstress, and Clayton was 12 years old at that time.
Below is Josiah Fike’s life story. I enjoyed reading the family letters below. They give us a sense of what life was like for our ancestors.
This letter is to Charlotte Fike Packard who was a cousin that Beth’s mother ran into in pursing genealogy. Charlotte’s father, James Allen Fike, and Josiah were cousins:
This is Lucile Fike Newbold’s Life Story:
Josiah died in 1924 and his body was returned to Tarkio, Missouri to be buried in the family plot with his parents.
Ethel May McMonegal was born on March 22, 1876, in Cañon City, Colorado, to James and Henrietta McMonegal.
She married Josiah Walter Fike on November 12, 1903, in Price, Utah. They had six children in 13 years. She died on August 6, 1942, in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the age of 66, and is interred at the City View Mortuary in Salt Lake City.
Ethel’s parents were James McMonegal and Henrietta Bellen
By 1920 Ethel Fike was a 44-year-old head of household living in Salt Lake City. They lived at 817 E. 2nd South street in Salt Lake City for the rest of her life. Her mother Henrietta Bellen moved in with her at this address at the end of her life. In 1930 Ethel was 54 with three children at home. Gladys and our ancestor John were both in their 20s and working. She was employed as a seamstress. Clayton was 12 years old at that time.
John’s father was Josiah Walter Fike, born 31 Mar 1863 in Marion Co., Illinois. He died 21 Feb 1924 in Provo, Utah. His mother was Ethel May McMonegal, born 22 March 1876 in Canyon City, Colorado. They were married 12 Nov 1903 in Price, Utah. Ethel died 06 August 1942 in Salt Lake City.
Anthony Bellen (1823-1903) Electa England (1833-1925)
My 3rd Great-Grandmother Electa England was born March 4, 1833 in Massena, St. Laurence Co., New York, in upstate New York, near the St. Lawrence River just South of the Canadian border. Both of her grandfathers fought in the Revolutionary War on the British side. After the war, their families along with many British Loyalists were forced to relocate to Canada (link to Revolutionary War Soldiers). Electa’s parents, Robert England 1791-1875, and Betsy Phillips 1796-1870, were born in Quebec, Canada and were married in 1810. By at least 1816 they were living in St. Lawrence County, New York where their oldest daughter, Polly, was born.
Electa was the 10th of 12 children born to Robert and Betsy. Both of her parents lived the remainder of their lives in Massena, St. Lawrence Co., NY.
Electa married Anthony Bellen 1823-1903 on 4 April 1854 in Hermon, St. Lawrence Co., NY. They settled in Rensslear Falls, New York and our ancestor, Henrietta Bellen, was born to them the next year. Electa and Anthony went on to have 8 more children. They are both buried in Rensselaer Falls Cemetery in the right side section.
Both Anthony and their son-in-law, the Irish immigrant, James McMonegal fought in the American Civil War. Anthony Bellen was a Civil War soldier in Co. K of the 11th New York Cavalry and we will discuss James in more detail in another section.
Electa’s paternal grandparents were William England 1740-1796, an English immigrant and royalist soldier, and his wife Mary Schneider 1751-1838. Mary was a third generation colonist whose grandparents were part of the Palatine German migration to New York in 1709.
Her maternal grandparents were John Phillips 1751-1844, also a royalist British Soldier in the Revolutionary War and his wife Isabella Finney 1762-1849. John Phillips’ father was descended from Dutch immigrants who arrived in New Amsterdam and migrated to the Hudson and Mohawk valleys (link here for colonial Dutch ancestors). His mother was descended from Puritan and Separatist English fleeing religious persecution. Most famously, we are descended from Thomas and his son Joseph Rogers; two of the 102 passengers to arrive in Plymouth Harbor on “The Mayflower”. This link will take you to the Mayflower Ancestors page.
James McMonegal (1841-1909) and Henrietta Bellen (1855-1936)
My 2nd great-grandfather James McMonegal was born in County Donegal, Ireland in 1841. He was a child during the peak of the Irish Potato Famine which was at its peak from 1845-1849. It is likely that the famine and other hardships in Ireland led James to relocate to America. He was in New York State by the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. It is likely that he was living in the St. Lawrence River valley in the County with the volunteers who made up the 60th New York.
He served in the U.S. Army for the duration of the War and was not discharged until more than a year after the end of hostilities. He initially volunteered for the 60th New York Regiment and in 1864 re-enlisted into the 1st Engineering Battalion. We don’t know exactly where James was during the various battles, but the 60th New York fought at both Antietam in 1862 and Gettysburg in 1863. The 60th has a monument on the Gettysburg battlefield. After he re-enlisted into the Engineering battalion in February of 1864 they were involved in the siege of Petersburgh from June 1864 to April 1865. After the Union army prevailed at Richmond the 1st Engineers were present at the surrender of Lee’s Army at Appomattox in April of 1865. He was discharged from the army February 1867 at Long Island, New York.
Between his Army discharge in 1867 and 1870 he relocated to the Colorado Territory just West of Denver and was working as a teamster.
1870 Golden City, Colorado Territory working as a teamster (Colorado became a state in 1876)
1874 James returned to the St, Lawrence river valley in upstate New York and married Henrietta Bellen.
After their Marriage in 1874 James and Henrietta returned to Colorado and their eldest daughter was born in Canon City, Colorado.
1876 Their eldest daughter, and our ancestor, Ethel was born in Canon City, Colorado
For the rest of his life James lived and worked as a miner in the Rocky Mountains. We can track his movements with the locations of his daughter’s birth, city directories, personal letters, and census records.
1877 Electa was born in Rocky Ford, Ontario Co. Colorado
1878 Dolly was born in Leadville, Colorado
1880 the Leadville City Directory shows them living at 826 E. 5th St. and working as a miner
1881 In Leadville living at 826 E. 5th St. and working as a miner
1882 In Leadville living at 325 East 3rd St. as a contractor
Around 1883 after the gunfight at the OK Corral Doc Holliday became a McMonegal neighbor in Leadville and made his living dealing cards at a local saloon.
1866 James and Henrietta divorced. In a letter James talks about leaving the family while they were living in Leadville. The first record of Henrietta independent from James is an 1891 Denver City Directory showing Henrietta working as a dressmaker. By 1902 Henrietta and the girls moved to Salt Lake City.
1893 James writes a letter from San Juan County, Utah, 15 miles from Moab
1899 James writes his daughters from Granite, Colorado
1905 A letter from Salida County, Colorado
1907 Still in Salida working as a miner
1909 Dies and is buried in the Granite, Colorado Cemetery. His grave is not marked.
The link below is to a Word document with images of letters that James wrote from his mining camps in Colorado and Utah to his daughters:
Henrietta Bellen was born on September 28, 1855,in Rensslear Falls, New York to Electa England, and Anthony Bellen.
In 1874 James McMonegal returned to the St. Lawrence river valley after his Civil War service and a few years working as a teamster in Colorado and married Henrietta in Prescott, Ontario, Canada.
James and Henrietta returned to Colorado where their eldest daughter Ethel (ancestor) was born in Canon City. We can track the movement of the family in Colorado as James worked as a miner.
In 1877 Electa was born in Rocky Ford, Colorado. A year later Dolly was born in Leadville. The city directory shows them living at 826 E. 5th treet and James working as a miner. They are listed in the Leadville city directories in 1880, 1881, and 1882.
In 1866 James and Henrietta divorced. In a letter James talks about leaving the family while they were living in Leadville. The first record of Henrietta independent from James is an 1891 Denver City Directory showing Henrietta working as a dressmaker. She was listed in the 1891, 1895, and 1899 Denver city directories. By 1902 Henrietta and the girls moved to Salt Lake City.
The 1902 Salt Lake City directory lists Henrietta as a Ladies Tailor at 2223 Mercantile Block Building with her residence at 145 Social Hall Ave., one block Southeast of Temple Square.
In 1907 she was listed as a Dressmaker at 613 Templeton Bldg. (a hotel at Main and S. Temple). In 1911 she was a Dressmaker with business and residence at 735 Major Ave. And by 1919 she was living and working at 817 E. 2nd South. My father and his cousins remember the family living and working in that house.
The 1927 directory adds Dolly as the manager of the embroidery shop. and in the 1934-1936 directories Dolly’s name is listed first.
Henrietta died on in Salt Lake City on September 8, 1936 and is interred in the City View Mortuary in Salt Lake City.
John Edgar Fike, Sr. (1907-1970) and Betty Andrew Fike (1910-1974)
John Edgar Fike, Sr. married Elizabeth (Betty) Andrew in 1937 in Salt Lake City. They lived in Salt Lake and Ogden and are both buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.
At his birth John’s family lived at 41 Aberdeen St. in Salt Lake City, Utah. By 1910 the family were living in Salt Lake City Ward 2 with his Mother. In 1920 they were living in Salt Lake City Ward 5. And by 1930 he was working as a clerk for Western Union. John attended and played football for East High in Salt Lake City.
In 1939 Betty lived at 261 W. 4th South St. working as a clerk for company named EC&FL and by 1940 John was living in Las Vegas, Nevada at age 32 working as a collector for a farm implements company. At that time Betty and their first son, John E. Fike, Jr., were living with her parents in Salt Lake City. Her father was a bank teller, her mother a librarian, and Betty was a stenographer.
In 1941 John and Betty were living at 722 E. 3rd South #3 SLC with John working as a clerk at Sears and Betty as a secretary at EC&Fl.
By 1942 the family moved to Ogden and was living at 2610 Brinker Ave. John was a manager for Sears Roebuck. Between 1944 and 1956 they were still living at 2610 Brinker Ave. and John was a brakeman for the Union Pacific Railroad. He worked the trains eastbound from Ogden Union Station up the weber valley to Green River. At Green River he would crew change and work the westbound back to Ogden.